The Abysmal Depths of Chess

  "… I have used a selection of such games as a medium through which to put across the fundamental principles of simple chess. These games are not of the type to capture the limelight of chess literature …" Michael Stean

  " 5 … Re8 (forced)" Michael Stean We need to talk about engines.

  " …open files only have value as a means of feeding rooks (or possible queens) into the enemy position, so that a file has no value unless there is somewhere along it an entry point …." Michael Stean

  " 'Put your rooks on open files’ is a piece of advice every beginner receives, and a very sound piece of advice it is. But like all pieces of sound advice, it can prove to be inadequate or worse." Michael Stean

  "One of the dangers of falling behind in development in the opening is that the enemy rooks will be first on the scene and will take possession of the open files before your own can be scrambled into action." Michael Stean

  "The power of a rook on the seventh rank. It ties down both the black major pieces single-handed." Michael Stean

  "The minor pieces play a major role in determining who controls open files. The side with the more active minor pieces can generally count on gaining access to any files that may open up." Michael Stean